Flower
by liliaeth
Summary: A day in the life of one of Kronos' slaves


Title:Flower  
Author: Lore Krajsman  
Rating: PG 13  
Fandom: Highlander  
Pairing: not an issue (I think)  
Characters: The Four Horsemen, Danni(OFC)  
Summary: A day in the life of a young slave of the Horsemen

This is a part of my regular continuity for the Liliaeth family lines universe. Danni is an older name of my character Lilin. She hasn't used it since she was found By the Liliaeth.  
Other stories about her can be found at [http://members.xoom.com/liliaeth][1]

Flower

Dani stood listenting to the soft chirping sound of a bird. It didn't show itself. The flowers around her smelled sweet. For a moment she sat down on the grass. She'd never seen so many plants and flowers in her life. As she relaxed into the softness of the grass, the burns she'd received from Caspian a few nights past were beginning to itch. Thankfully it was beginning to heal, she thought, as she caressed the dew-moist petals of the flower.  
She smiled , the sensation of the sun on her body was pleasant for once. 

Then her eyes fell on the jar next to her. She had to get water for the camp, for the masters.  
But it wasn't time yet. They wouldn't be home for quite a while and for now there would be time. She kneeled down at the spring and let the sparkling liquid flow through her fingers. Its coolness touched her face with a sweet caress.

She took off her dress and stepped under the waterfall, the cold water a balm to her warm flesh. She played with the water, wishing there were other children her age to play with. Too bad Caspian had killed his horseboy. He hadn't been fast enough to clean the Horseman's stallion. Not that she'd been allowed to play much since her capture anyway.Suddenly she heard a soft chittering sound. She looked up and saw a squirrel playing with her dress.  
"Hey that's mine." she yelled.  
It didn't even seem afraid of her. She came up to it and it jumped on her hand. It was a weird funny feeling and made her laugh.

"Can I see it?" she heard a friendly male voice say behind her. She quickly turned around, pulling her dress in front of her and accidentally knocking thejar over.  
"Sure." she quickly said, her head bowed down before the master in front of her.  
Silas picked up the animal and petted it.  
"It sure is a cute little thing."  
Danni didn't dare look up at the giant.  
"You're Danni right?"  


The girl nodded. She wasn't really used to the name yet, but denying it would only anger them. Kronos had nearly beaten her to death once before. She hadn't answered to the name he'd given her and he'd broken out in a mad rage. She'd seen it all around her, even the most minor sign of rebellion could mean either instant death or immense pain.

This Horseman's face held a big grin. Not malicious like Caspian's or scheming like Methos'. And definitely not filled with the evil Kronos' usually displayed. Of all the Horsemen she'd had the least dealings with this one. The women in the camp said that he wasn't into the weird stuff like the others and he wasn't as prone to gain pleasure out of causing pain. He was just too big.

She'd gotten a glimpse of his eyes and they seemed oddly gentle as he played with the squirrel, stroking the animal's back. The giant didn't seem bothered by it when she dressed herself, but she was to young for his tastes anyway. Silas preferred his women bigger with huge breasts and round thighs. She didn't really fit that mold.

His presence here meant one other thing. The other masters had returned as well. She grabbed for the jar and filled it again. Leaning over to the water of the spring.  
"Are you leaving already?" Danni immediately froze in her tracks.  
"The water Master Silas." she tried.  
"It can wait, come here."

Danni shivered. What if Kronos wanted her and she was late. But she couldn't just refuse an order made by a Horseman. Any Horseman. She got up and stood in front of him, keeping her eyes downcast.  
"Do you like the flowers little one?" The girl hesitated a few seconds before nodding. He knelt down and picked a couple of the blue and white flowers spread around the spring. With an ease that marked a long experience he turned the flowers into a necklace. He tilted the girl's head a bit and placed the flowers around her frail neck. Danni stood, stiff as a statue, not even daring to breathe as he touched her.

"How did you get it to come to you?" He asked as the small animal ran for its freedom.  
"I ... I'm not sure," she stuttered out.  
She dared to take a step back and kneeled down on the grass, placing her hand on the ground. The animal jumped looked at it, staying back a few inches. It seemed curious. After a few minutes it jumped forward, sniffing at her hand. Silas looked at the scene in silence. Suddenly the squirrel took a leap up on her hand. She got up as gently as she was able to and brought the animal up to him. He held out his hand and it jumped over to him. The giant cautiously brought the little thing to his lips and brushed its fur with a kiss.

"She's trusting."  
"She?" Slightly comforted by the giant's kind manner the girl dared to come closer.  
"Yes. You see this," and he pointed at the animals belly. "She's even pregnant, carrying its young."  
The giant seemed almost wistful at those words. And for a few moments he held the squirrel in his hands. It wasn't until he froze and looked up that the animal jumped away from him.

Turning around, hus eyes scanned the area. Finally his face split open with a huge grin.  
"Brother." He grabbed the man coming at him in his grip.  
Danni crumbled under the mans dark brown eyes. Methos. She trembled noticably as Silas hugged the shorter man. His face was still painted in his blue warpaint, his hair clogged up with blood. She could see the stains on his white tunic and knew what it meant. The Horsemen had had another victory.

She started shivering even more when he turned his attention to her.  
"You better send her off to Kronos. He was looking for her. There'll be a big celebration in his tent tonight. Wine, food and women all 'till dawn.

Danni shrank back at the thought of one of Kronos' celebrations. She waited for the giant to nod his permission before she ran off to her Master, spilling some of the water in her haste. She looked back one last time, as she stopped at the top of the hill. The two grown men were playing in the mud. Wrestling playfully like children. She brought her fingers softly to the flowers resting around her neck. They felt odd, slightly itchy even.

As soon as she arrived in the camp she headed for the women's tent. She didn't take the time to look around, barely noticing the two new women in the back.  
"Where have you been?." One of the older women yelled at her, pulling the jar out of her hands. "Master Kronos was looking for you. Do you want his rage to turn to all of us?"  
Danni trembled at the mention of her Master's name.  
"Master Silas." she tried to excuse herself. "He stopped me at the spring.

The woman took a deep breath and placed her hand on the girls shoulder. Trying her best to seem comforting to the child.  
"Now come on child. Hurry up. We can't keep your master waiting any longer.  
Danni agreed. If Kronos got angry, the rest of the women would pay for it as much if not more than she would.

She nearly stumbled over her feet as she raced up to Kronos' tent. He was standing there already. Waiting for her no doubt. His eyes inspected her. Cold, dangerous.  
"Get in." Even though the words were spoken at a near whisper, to Danni they sounded as thunder. He left her some room to enter his tent, brushing over her hair as she passed him. Danni prepared herself for him to grab her back, but he didn't.  
He just pointed at a pile in the center of the tent.

"See if the dress fits you."  
Danni was as fast as she could. Trying to remember her training with the women. Getting out of her own dress and into the new one with as little hesitance as possible.  
It wasn't in any kind of color that any of her people would have ever worn. Bright red, the color of blood. She could barely make out the dark stains at the back.

Kronos smiled approvingly. He approached her, towering over the little girl. His hands fell on the flowers on her neck. He tore them off and turned around. There was a necklace lying on the table in the middle of the tent. He held it in his hands for a few seconds. Its cold bronze fabric was decorated with small sets of precious stones. Most of which the girl didn't recognize.

Danni stood still as he placed it on her. Clicking the lock shut at the back.  
"Perfect, just perfect." The words sounded uncommonly soft. "Turn around."  
Danni obeyed without the merest sign of hesitation.  
"Tonight, little one, you'll dance for me and my brothers. But for now you'll leave."

Danni got out as fast as her feet could take her, straight to the womens tent.  
"And?"  
The woman noticed the girls new attire, but didn't mention it.  
"He wants me to dance."  
"Good."  
"But I can't dance."  
"Just follow the music and you'll be just fine. It's not the dancing that he wants anyway. Most of them'll be too drunk to really notice." The woman headed for the back of the tent and poured some of the food in a small bowl.  
"Eat. You won't get much of a chance to do so later."  
Danni pulled out her spoon and stirred through the bowl a bit first. It was nothing compared to the meal the Master had had in his tent. Just a simple porridge. The veal, grapes and fruit were only for the Masters. The slaves had to make do with the left-overs.  


Two new women were sitting in one of the corner. They'd been free and wealthy before. Danni could see it on them. The look on their eyes showed a disgust towards the other slaves. They didn't see themselves as slaves yet. Danni knew they would learn. Either that or they'd die. There was never a middle road. One of them started looking at her. Danni shrank under her eyes, trying to keep her thoughts on her food.

The woman kept staring at the neclace she was wearing. Suddenly she jumped up and started shouting. The other woman tried to stop her, but the woman pulled loose and got up to Danni. She would have attacked her if the other women weren't holding her back.  
Danni didn't understand the meaning of the words, but she could take a guess that they weren't all that nice. What did the woman expect her to do about it. One could hardly refuse a gift from Kronos. He'd kill her if she didn't wear the thing.

Laer who was the oldest woman in the camp took place between the new woman and Danni., hiding the child behind her back. The girl could see the hostile look in the new womans eyes and ran for it. She'd just left the tent when something all of a sudden blocked her path.  
"Danni." She froze up as she saw who she'd almost ran into.  
"Master."  
"Well girl." Kronos asked. At that moment one of the new women pushed Laer through the tent canvas. Danni crumbled back.  
"Are they scaring you little one?" He asked her. Danni nodded just the slightest bit. Laer crawled back as she noticed the Masters presence. The new woman wasn't that cautious.  
Kronos grabbed her by her neck. Twisting it. The woman fell dead at his feet.  
"You." He pointed at the second new woman. "Danni here seems scared of you." The woman backed down even more, almost trying to hide in the canvas. The Horseman went up to her and hit her in the face.  
"I hope that unlike your friend there you'll be susceptible to some training. Danni belongs to me. Nobody. I repeat, nobody harms my property against my wishes." The woman crumbled under his gaze. "Do you understand that?"

Danni tried to stay out of sight. Terrified he'd turn his anger on her. Some of the older women, the ones who'd been in the camp the longest, smiled as they saw the new ones arrogance broken. Most of them tried to avoid looking at Danni, some of the young ones had contempt in their eyes; "Kronos favorite." One of them whispered. Danni didn't let it bother her. She went back to her porridge and continued eating. Preparing herself for her dance

[Fanfiction][2]

   [1]: http://members.xoom.com/liliaeth
   [2]: fanfiction.htm



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